Ethical Ethics Of Toyota

A firm that I believe to be ethical is Subaru of America, the car manufacturer whose commercials convey the use of a zero landfill initiative. Under this program, all of the waste from their manufacturing plants is either recycled or otherwise reused in some form or another. The have gone on to implement many other programs to demonstrate their commitment to corporate responsibility and the environment. At the other end of this perspective, I feel that Toyota, another car manufacturer, is unethical in the scandal involving incidents of sudden acceleration without warning. Not only did the FBI investigation conclude that Toyota knew of the problem, but that they delayed recalling the vehicles and assured customers that their cars were safe.

It is something that is becoming expected rather than desired (Alcañiz, Cáceres, & Pérez, 2010, October 01), and business are responding to this expectation in order to differentiate themselves from the competition. The key to making ethics programs successful is implementation and enforcement. It is insufficient to pen a sparkling ethics policy onto paper if it is not build into the organization’s culture. A successful ethics program is a process of active learning; implemented by management, able to receive constructive feedback, reevaluated and molded over time as the policies are

It seems that Toyota has overhauled its corporate website since the incident of unintended acceleration, draw attention away from the issue and promote a more positive image. However, in a news report on www.abcnews.com, Toyota’s statement on their website at the time of the recalls states that the company “took full responsibility for any concerns our actions may have caused customers, and we rededicated ourselves to earning their trust” (Ross, Rhee, Hill, Chruchman, & Katersky,